There is no “digital learning environment” without reliable and ample communications connectivity, networks that work and devices that truly go “on” at the touch of a switch. Underscore reliable. In past decades, schools and their supporters figured it was their job just to get tech. Once inside of schools, however, tech gear often wound up orphaned or supported only by heroic teachers (librarians), who moonlighted as their own tech support crew.

In 2015, the emphasis evolved away from mere access to technology to smart use of reliable technology.

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The core communications infrastructure in schools includes access to high-speed bandwidth, wireless networking within a school, and low-cost devices for tapping into the network. To make it a truly robust infrastructure, the National Education Technology Plan says schools also need thoughtful data privacy and digital citizenship policies, quality instructional resources and ways to ensure all students have internet access at home.

AT&T’s Involvement with ConnectED

by AT&T

Through the ConnectED initiative, AT&T committed $100 million of free mobile broadband access for educational devices, mobile device management, network filtering and teacher professional development for three years to 50,000 students and teachers in Title 1 schools. Access to mobile broadband gives students and teachers access to interactive content, software that lets students learn at their own pace, and potential breakthroughs in teaching and learning.

US schools are building out their core communications infrastructure tremendously: through its 2013 ConnectED initiative, the Obama Administration pledged to connect 99% of schools with next generation broadband by 2018. A year later, the Federal Communications Commission helped schools pay by revamping its “e-rate” program to provide $3.9 billion annually to schools and libraries largely for broadband. (Schools had previously used the money to cover other communications fees, such as telephone services.) In 2014, the Department of Education also introduced the Future Ready District pledge, which provides a roadmap for schools to better leverage technology to impact student learning. And states began pitching in. According to EducationSuperHighway, 38 state governors have taken actions to upgrade connectivity in schools—for instance, California put $50 million in its 2015-16 budget to upgrade schools’ last mile connections.

And that communications infrastructure is likely to keep getting better: The federal government and states are tipping more funds—and policies—to support schools’ broadband connectivity. In 2015, the FCC ruled AT&T must respond to all request for proposals for fiber connections made by schools and libraries during the next four years—though this only applies to organizations tapping into e-rate funds in AT&T’s 21 state operating footprint, it has a big potential for impact. Schools, districts, and states are likely to become more savvy about jointly purchasing bandwidth access and using e-rate funds—district purchasing power over the last two years has already grown by 5 times, according to EducationSuperHighway.

Devices are proliferating both with and without official help. Schools poured large budgets into buying devices—according to the 2015 EdNET Insight Survey, 46% of school districts cited an increase in hardware budgets (compared to 25% in 2013). Schools ultimately favored low-cost tablets and Chromebooks; in fact, Chromebooks accounted for more than 50% of all mobile devices purchased by US schools in Q3 of 2015. Students did their part, too, with almost 75% of teenagers reporting that they have or have access to a smartphone.

The Key Infrastructure Programs

by David A. DeSchryver & Deirdre Dlugoleski of Whiteboard Advisors

The past few years have been a time of significant change for technology infrastructure in our schools—but much work remains. According to CoSN's annual Infrastructure Survey (2015), the top concerns are affordability, network speed, network competition, the growing number of devices, and the expectation that it will all work seamlessly. To help alleviate some of these concerns, our schools are tapping into the following resources:

E-Rate: In 2014, the FCC approved a modernized E-Rate program with a $1.5 billion annual funding increase and allowed schools to use the funds to focus on broadband, LAN, and Wi/Fi updates. The revisions also implemented a simplified application process, and required the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC), which administers the program, to make its pricing transparent and thereby help districts negotiate rates.

ConnectED: In 2013, the Obama Administration launched the ConnectED initiative to provide needed technology professional development for teachers and leaders. In addition, it secured more than $2 billion in commitments from more than 20 private companies to upgrade school infrastructure and provide access to technology resources.

State and local capital financing: School districts can issue bonds for capital and technology improvements and states can get into the bond action as well. New York, for example, passed the Bonds for School Technology Act in 2014, which authorized the state comptroller to sell bonds up to $2 billion to finance technology and infrastructure upgrades.

More than half of all K-12 students—including roughly proportionate shares in rural and low-income schools—have enough bandwidth at school to give them the means to do digital learning. Internet connectivity in schools is higher than it’s ever been, but there are still 21.3 million students who are not connected to the broadband required for digital learning, and lots of work to be done.

The story changes when kids head home. The Pew Research Center notes that one in six households with school-age children lack broadband connectivity at home—something that can make doing homework even more trying. To chip away at the homework gap on the other hand, “will take lots of creative solutions,” says Evan Marwell, Chief Executive Officer of EducationSuperHighway. “It’s not as neat and tidy as connectivity in schools.”

Timeline

Stakeholders

TEACHERSADMINSCOMPANIESINVESTORS

Teachers

Tools not Toys

The new communications infrastructure improvements have paved the way for teachers to focus on enabling digital learning as opposed to creating backup lesson plans in case of internet outages, troubleshooting network connectivity issues, and the like. In 2015, improved infrastructure allowed teachers to try tools and technology-enriched instructional strategies in ways they wouldn’t dare without reliable infrastructure. Being able to rely on stable wifi or working devices freed teachers up to integrate more technology into core instruction. “In our community, there has been a shift away from naysayers who say we don’t need technology. The community is shifting towards viewing devices as tools, not toys,” says Courtney Niemeyer, first grade teacher at Eagle Cliffs School. But there’s still room for improvement. At Nieyemer’s school, like at many others, there are still limitations on how many kids can be using certain apps at the same time.

COURTNEY NIEMEYER

First grade teacher at Eagle Cliffs School in Billings, MT

“In our community, there has been a shift away from naysayers who say we don’t need technology. The community is shifting towards viewing devices as tools, not toys.”

Homework Gap

With connectivity in schools on an upward trajectory, connectivity at students’ homes has become a new frontier for schools and communities to conquer. Teachers sometimes have to make accommodations for students that don’t have access at home. In some instances, this means that teachers will simply not assign homework in classes where students are not allowed to take school devices home. And even when students are allowed to take devices home, there aren’t enough: according to the 2015 CoSN Annual E-Rate and Infrastructure Survey “40% of school systems report one device per two students and 28% report one device per student” at school.

Map of K-12 School Connectivity (2015)

HoverClick to see the percentage of school districts meeting the minimum 100 kbps per student goal in each state

Administrators

Building for the Future

Fiber, bandwidth and infrastructure have become top priorities for administrators at all levels. According to EducationSuperHighway, demand for bandwidth in schools focused on digital learning is growing at a rate of 50% per year. To meet this demand, 9,500 schools will need to build new fiber connections (the fastest and most scalable broadband technology) in order to meet the long-term FCC connectivity goal of 1Mbps per student. “The worst thing you can do is start promoting [digital learning] and then not have a signal,” says Sam Brooks, Personal Learning Coordinator at Putnam County Schools. Administrators also need to ensure they have a strategy for devices—55% of respondents to the CoSN survey expect two or more devices per student in three years.

The worst thing you can do is start promoting [digital learning] and then not have a signal.

Affordability

According to the 2015 CoSN Annual E-Rate and Infrastructure Survey, affordability remains the number one barrier to robust broadband access in schools, though major progress has been made over the last year. Almost half of school systems nationwide cite lack of competition as an issue, and the problem is further exacerbated in rural areas where there is sometimes only one internet service provider. Additionally, rural school districts pay more than double what urban and suburban school districts pay. But there are funds available to soften the blow—e-rate funds can be used for the large one-time costs of building out networks over the next few years. District administrators need to take advantage of the e-rate program, pursue joint purchasing agreements to negotiate contracts with internet providers more effectively, and do detailed cost budgeting (e-rate pays an average of 70% of connectivity costs, meaning districts need to prioritize to pay the remainder of the costs).

EVAN MARWELL

CEO of EducationSuperHighway

Why is affordability a bigger issue in rural school districts?

40 sec

Grassroots and Guerrilla

In the face of a hairy challenge like the homework gap, schools are getting creative. In Coachella Valley Unified School district, the district is addressing the lack of internet access at home on multiple fronts from offering wifi on school buses to partnering with local businesses that provide free wifi for students to complete homework. In Piedmont, AL, “we piloted an e-rate program that provided us with funding to build a network, so it meant that when kids went home, they were still connected to our district. It was a game changer,” says Matt Akin, Superintendent of Piedmont City Schools. While innovative, these programs are still few and far between, and can be expensive to run. Accordingly to the CoSN 2015 infrastructure survey, 75% of school systems don’t have any off campus strategy for addressing at-home connectivity.

TeachersCompanies

Companies

An Expanding Pie

According to FutureSource, there were over 24 million mobile devices (defined here as tablets and mobile phones) in K-12 schools in 2015, nearly 11 million of which were newly purchased in 2015. The explosion of Chromebooks has played a big part in device proliferation given their low price point. Increased connectivity and devices have created a universe of possibilities for companies. “There’s a qualitative change that happens in the [type of] products that you’re allowed to build when you have reliable versus occasional or spotty connectivity. I’m pretty excited about the types of apps that can be built in an environment that has constant connectivity,” says Luke Shepard, Chief Technology Officer of eSpark Learning.

LUKE SHEPARD

CTO of eSpark Learning

How connectivity can help edtech companies build better products

60 sec

Mobile Consumers

Regardless of a school’s wifi capabilities, companies still have an opportunity to target teachers through their mobile devices. According to a 2015 Pew study, 68% of adults have smartphones. “Digital infrastructure is now in everybody’s pocket so you see very highly scalable apps popping up,” says Matt Hanson, Partner at GSV Asset Management. As districts continue to figure out connectivity issues, the ability to build powerful mobile first technology will help alleviate the connectivity gap. For Justin Chando, Chief Executive Officer of Chalkup, leveraging mobile technology is key, “I know we have users without 24/7 broadband access who are accessing our platform via mobile devices. Until 24/7 internet access is real for every classroom, we all need to think about how we make it easy for those device users without wifi to stay as connected and engaged as those that have internet everywhere they go.”

Over 50% of districts planned to purchase more than 100 Chromebooks this year, more than any other type of device

Source: EdNet Insight Survey and 2015, Market Data Retrieval

AdministratorsInvestors

Investors

ConnectED

The White House ConnectED initiative spurred an unprecedented amount of private sector support for infrastructure. Since 2014, private companies have committed more than $2B-worth of technology and support to expand internet connectivity and other technology in classrooms. “We want to insert technology [into schools] and use it to improve the learning process, not just be an additional gadget that is fun and nice to have,” says Charles Herget, Associate Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility at AT&T. The question that remains is: will internet providers be interested in offering affordable or discounted internet services when the e-rate modernization order expires in 2020?

Public-Private Partnerships

To enter hard-to-reach markets like low income and rural communities, the public and private sector are creating products and programs to better fit the contexts of these students and families. The FCC has been a major driving force behind some key private sector involvement—for instance, the creation of the Comcast Internet Essentials Program, which offers lower cost home internet for low income families, was mandated by the FCC when Comcast acquired NBCUniversal in 2011. Several other cable companies, like Cox and Suddenlink provide a similar service through Connect2Compete, a nonprofit whose mission is to eliminate the digital divide. Meanwhile, federal programs like ConnectHome (which includes corporate partners such as Google Fiber and Best Buy) and Lifeline (which has piloted a broadband adoption program) are also aimed at better connecting low income communities.